Protection & advocacy for individuals with mntl illness

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services) awarded Disability Rights Nebraska $632,033 on October 1, 2025, through the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) program (CFDA 93.138), a formula grant.

Disability Rights Nebraska serves as Nebraska's designated state Protection and Advocacy system for individuals with mental illness. Under this award, the organization pursues administrative, legal, and other appropriate remedies to address complaints of abuse, neglect, and rights violations affecting adults with serious mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbance, ensuring enforcement of constitutional and federal and state statutes. Service priority goes to individuals at risk for abuse, neglect, or civil rights violations while in care or treatment facilities, and extends to individuals in community settings, those in the process of admission to facilities, those being transported, and those involuntarily confined in municipal detention facilities, jails, or prisons.

The award covers the period October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027, with place of performance in Lincoln, Nebraska. Disability Rights Nebraska operates as a prime awardee, delivering all program services directly without identified sub-recipients.